Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Andargachew Tsege

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his US counterpart urging President Obama to raise the case of detained British national Andargachew Tsege with the Ethiopian government during President Obama's forthcoming visit to that country.

Grant Shapps: We have not asked for President Obama to raise the case of Andargachew Tsege with the Government of Ethiopia during his visit. The Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon friend, the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond MP) and the Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service, my Rt Hon friend, the Member for Witney (David Cameron MP) have raised the case directly and at the highest levels of the Ethiopian government and will continue to do so.

Russia: Sanctions

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of sanctions against Russia; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: EU sanctions are delivering a significant cost to Russia for its actions in Ukraine. The fall in the global oil price has driven an economic slump in Russia, including a shrinking economy and sharply declining currency. The wide-ranging restrictions of EU and US economic sanctions are exacerbating these negative trends. Russian sovereign debt has been downgraded to junk status by two ratings agencies and forecasters predict that the Russian economy will contract by between 3.5% and 5% during the current year. Sanctions are an important element of the range of diplomatic measures we are undertaking to effect a change in Russia’s behaviour, including to compel Russia to fulfill its obligations under the Minsk agreements. EU member States stand ready to impose additional measures if necessary.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Apprentices: Qualifications

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what qualifications other than NVQs are required as part of apprenticeships.

Nick Boles: As apprenticeships are a devolved matter, this answer refers to England only.   Currently apprenticeships which meet the Specification of Apprenticeship Standards for England (SASE) require qualifications that confirm competency in the occupational area and provide underpinning knowledge. Different qualifications may be used, for example NVQs, certificates or diplomas including BTEC HNCs or Ds. Apprenticeships also require English and maths qualifications, usually Functional Skills or GCSEs (at a minimum level 1 for an Intermediate apprenticeship; or level 2 for an Advanced apprenticeship). Other qualifications, for example in ICT may also be required where relevant to the job. The apprentice is deemed to have completed their apprenticeship when they have met these individual qualification requirements. The developer of the framework (usually a Sector Skills Council) will specify the particular qualification titles.   In future every apprentice will train towards the achievement of an employer-designed apprenticeship standard which sets out what the apprentice will know and be able to do by the end of their apprenticeship. The policy on mandatory requirements is currently being revised.   A list of the approved standards designed by employers is at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/apprenticeship-standards

Further Education: Finance

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to the adult skills budget on the long-term financial stability of the further education sector.

Nick Boles: The financial health of further education colleges is under constant review by the Skills Funding Agency based on self-assessment information from colleges and the publication of college accounts. Colleges with inadequate financial health are subject to intervention led by the FE Commissioner.   Across all our grant, loan and capital support for adult FE, we are making available over £3bn in 2015-16 and our funding mechanism is designed to allow providers the freedoms and flexibilities to decide how best to use their allocation to respond to local learner and employer demand. As autonomous organisations it is up to colleges to manage their own budgets.   Apprenticeships are our priority for skills and colleges have been encouraged to expand their apprenticeship offer. As government funding has reduced, many colleges have responded well by looking at generating other income streams and creating sustainable business models for the future. This entrepreneurial approach will help ensure sustainable future business models with less reliance on government funding.   In order to address the significant financial pressures on institutions, a declining 16-19 population and the need to maintain very tight fiscal discipline in order to tackle the deficit, a major reform of post-16 education and training institutions is necessary. On 20 July the Departments for Education and Business, Innovation and Skills announced a programme of area-based reviews to review 16+ provision in every area. These reviews will provide an opportunity for institutions and localities to restructure their provision to ensure it is tailored to the changing context and designed to achieve maximum impact.

Exports

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to implement a whole-of-Government approach to export support: and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: My Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister is leading a whole-of-government approach to increase UK exports. An Exports Implementation Taskforce has been established to monitor and drive delivery. Chaired by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Taskforce meets every two weeks and reports to the Prime Minister and Cabinet quarterly.

Ministry of Justice

Driving: Disqualification

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of convictions for driving whilst disqualified resulted in an immediate custodial sentence in each year since 2005; and how many people convicted of driving whilst disqualified who had been convicted of the same offence within the previous 10 years received an immediate custodial sentence in each of those years.

Andrew Selous: Information on sentencing and convictions from 2005-2014 for driving whilst disqualified can be viewed on the Ministry of Justice website and it is available at the following link:- https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014 Select and open ‘Motoring data tool: with criminal justice area’.   The table below shows the numbers of offenders sentenced to immediate custody for driving whilst disqualified and the numbers sentenced to immediate custody for the same offence 2005-2014 in England and Wales.   Table 1: Number of offenders1 sentenced to immediate custody for driving whilst disqualified by the number of previous immediate custody received for the same offence in England and Wales, 2005 to 2014yearNumber of offenders1  Previous immediate custody received22005 9,925   5,012 2006 7,543   3,839 2007 5,754   2,820 2008 4,705   2,109 2009 3,724   1,590 2010 2,652   1,134 2011 2,309   944 2012 2,030   807 2013 1,847   696 2014 1,654   638 Source:   Ministry of Justice, Police National Computer (PNC)1. Figures are based on counting the number of occasions an offender was sentenced to immediate custody for driving whilst disqualified in each year. An offender can appear more than once in the totals for each year if the offender was convicted on multiple occasions in a given year.2. Number of previous immediate custody are counts of the number of separate occasions an offender has previously received an immediate custodial sentence and is calculated from the point of their latest conviction over the period. 3. All data have been taken from the MoJ extract of the Police National Computer. This includes details of all convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings given for recordable offences (see www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/1139/schedule/made for definition).4. These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and are subject to revision in future editions.

Prisoners: Compensation

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the effect on claims for compensation by prisoners of the coming into force of the Human Rights Act 1998.

Andrew Selous: We do not currently have data to enable us to make an assessment of the effect on claims for compensation by prisoners of the coming into force of the Human Rights Act 1998. We are making an assessment of the costs of the Human Rights Act, including how it might have driven compensation claims more generally.

Judges: Ethnic Groups

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many judges from a black or minority ethnic background have been appointed since (a) 1 January and (b) 7 May 2015.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many judges from a black or minority ethnic background have been appointed since (a) 1 January and (b) 7 May 2010.

Mr Shailesh Vara: From 1st January to 6th May 2015 (inclusive), 2 out of a total of 42 salaried,4.7% ,and 23 out of a total of 105 fee paid judges, 21.9%, from black or minority ethnic background were appointed.From 7th May to 30th June 2015 (inclusive), 2 out of a total of 19 salaried,10.5% and 6 out of a total of 76 fee paid judges, 7.8%, were from black or ethnic minority background were appointed. From 1st January to 6th May 2010 (inclusive), 1 out of a total 76 salaried, 1.3%, and 41 out of a total of 538 fee paid judges, 7.6%, were from black or ethnic minority were appointed.From 7th May to 30th June 2015 (inclusive), 40 out of a total of 676 salaried, 11.9% and 336 out of a total of 2557 fee paid judges, 13.1%, were from black or ethnic minority background were appointed.  All salaried judicial appointments are announced on the Judiciary Website. This can be found at: https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/announcement-type/appointments-and-retirements/

Ministry of Defence

Armed Conflict: Yemen

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on which dates and in what locations British precision-guided missiles, licensed for export, have been used in the current conflict in Yemen.

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on whether any British-licenced weaponry has been used by Saudi Arabia to bomb Saada province in Yemen.

Michael Fallon: The use of equipment and weapons supplied to the Saudis is an operational matter for the Saudi military authorities. The Saudis have assured us that British-supplied munitions will be used in compliance with international humanitarian law and we continue to engage with them on these assurances.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what reports he has received since 30 April 2013 on involvement of British military personnel in actions in Syria.

Michael Fallon: I receive regular briefings on UK operations, including surveillance flights, over Syria. When necessary, I am informed of the actions of UK personnel embedded with other coalition forces.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he was informed of the deployment of British military personnel in military action in Syria prior to the debate on Britain and International Security on 2 July 2015.

Michael Fallon: Yes. My predecessor and I authorised a small number of UK personnel embedded with US and Canadian forces to deploy with their units on operations in Iraq and Syria.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many operations British armed forces personnel have been involved in Syria since 30 August 2013; and from which branch of the armed forces each such personnel was deployed.

Michael Fallon: Personnel from all three Services have been involved in Operation SHADER, the name given to UK operations to counter-ISIL in Iraq and Syria. The UK has permission to fly manned Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, as well as Reaper unmanned aircraft, over Syria.In addition, a number of UK personnel are embedded with our coalition partners; these personnel are operating as members of those nations' military.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many British combat aircraft have been deployed in Syria since 30 August 2013.

Michael Fallon: None.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many British ground assets have been deployed in Syria since 30 August 2013.

Michael Fallon: None.

Saudi Arabia: Guided Weapons

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many precision guided missiles have been exported from the UK to Saudi Arabia since the start of the recent conflict in Yemen.

Michael Fallon: I am withholding the information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice relations between the United Kingdom and another state.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Community Relations

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2015 to Question 6223, which groups were awarded money for integration projects.

Mr Marcus Jones: Pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2015 to Question 6223 the organisations which were awarded money for integration projects and activities are shown in the attached table.



Table of Integration Projects 
(Word Document, 26.42 KB)

Community Relations

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2015 to Question 6223, what measures he has used to assess the results and performance of the £50 million invested through the integration strategy.

Mr Marcus Jones: My Department monitors integration projects to ensure they deliver the agreed outcomes and milestones set out in their grant agreement. For example, our investment of £8 million since 2011 in the Near Neighbours programme has supported over 924 local projects that bring different faith and ethnic groups together, benefitting over 650,000 local people; while funding of £10 million has established over 600 new cadet units providing opportunities for over 11,000 young people.

HM Treasury

Treasury: Grants

Philip Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value was of grants approved by his Department under section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968 in each of the last five years; and what assessment his Department has made of the value for money and effectiveness with which funding so awarded has been spent.

Damian Hinds: Tables were placed in the library which provide information on awards made under Section 64 of the Health and Public Health Act 1968 for the financial years 2010-11 to 2014-15 in response to HL5149 answered on 5th March 2015.   The Treasury reviews value for money as part of the assessment process for each grant prior to its award. The full assessment includes consideration of the proposal against HM Treasury standard business case criteria which includes a Strategic Case, Economic Case, Financial Case, Commercial Case and Project Governance.   Each grant application is assessed on its own merits and approval is only given where it is expected the grant will provide value for money.   In October 2014 HMT agreed to a deemed consent arrangement for grants under £1,000,000 whereby the Department of Health Director of Group Finance has consent to approve grants up to this value unless they are novel, contentious or repercussive. The Department of Health agreed to provide details of grants approved under this arrangement on a regular basis.   Under this authority Treasury approval can be deemed in respect of grants or loans to Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations where the Department of Health is able to confirm that: The grant or loan is affordable with DH’s settlement;The grant or loan represents best value for money;The grant team has reviewed the case under the normal section 64 business case criteria.

Treasury: Grants

Philip Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the job title is of the (a) official and (b) Minister in his Department with responsibility for approving grants made under section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968; against what criteria such grants are awarded; and what the process is for considering applications for such grants.

Damian Hinds: Officials within the Health Spending team have responsibility for providing HM Treasury approval for grants made under the powers of Section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury has overall responsibility for the decisions made by the Health Spending team.   HMT officials review an assessment of the proposal against HM Treasury standard business case criteria which includes a Strategic Case, Economic Case, Financial Case, Commercial Case and Project Governance.   In October 2014 HMT agreed to a deemed consent arrangement for grants under £1,000,000 whereby the Director of Group Finance at the Department of Health has consent to approve grants up to this value unless they are novel, contentious or repercussive. The Department of Health agreed to provide details of grants approved under this arrangement on a regular basis.   Under this authority Treasury approval can be deemed in respect of grants or loans to Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations where the Department of Health is able to confirm that: The grant or loan is affordable with DH’s settlement;The grant or loan represents best value for money;The grant team has reviewed the case under the normal section 64 business case criteria.

Department of Health

Action on Smoking and Health: Finance

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2015 to Question 5566, if he will place in the Library a copy of the assessment undertaken in the awarding of all grants to Action on Smoking and Health by his Department; and what the job title is of the official responsible for making recommendations to Ministers on the awarding of such grants.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2015 to Question 5566, on what basis his Department reached its conclusion that Action on Smoking and Health was the only charity in this area with the appropriate national record and forms; whether his Department gave consideration to organisations or bodies within (a) the NHS and (b) local government providing such services; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The assessments undertaken in the awarding of grants to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) contain policy advice to Ministers and so are not made public. The Deputy Director, Tobacco Control and Responsibility Deal, was the official responsible for making recommendations to Ministers on the awarding of such grants.   The Department reached its conclusion that ASH was the only charity in this area with the appropriate national reach and focus, and appropriate standing in the international arena, based on an assessment of the information contained in the grant application and other relevant information.